Fastening means.



N0..84o,395. Y PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907.

' N. B. STONE.

FASTBNING MEANS.

APPmoATIoN FILED MAY 7, 190e.A

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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' PATENTBD JAN. l. 1907.

` N. B'. STONE. FASTENING MEANS. APPLIOATION FILED MAY 7. 19.06.

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1u: NuRRls FET: vs ca, WASHINGTON, n4 z.

of th Unire-D STATES vPATENT OFFICE.

NATHANIEL B.

ONE- HALF or COLUMBIA.

STONE, OF OUTLOOK, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR OF TO GEORGE SHILLING, OFWASHINGTON, DISTRICT FASTNING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Appleman nea May 7, 1906. serai No.315,630.

Patented Jan. 1, A1907'.

T0 all whom, t may concern'.-

Be it known that I, NATHANIEL B. STONE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Outlook, in the county o'f Yakima and State of Washington,have invented a new and useful Fastening Means, of which the followingis a specification.

his invention relates to means for fastening two articles together, andwhile particiilarly intended for detachably securing a camera or otherinstrument to a tripod or like support it is not necessarily limited tothis use, but is capable of being successfully employed for a variety ofanalogous purposes. l

Theprincip'al object is to p ovide a novel, simple, and inexpensivedevice whereby one article, such as a camera, can be quickly andeffectively secured to anotherhas, for instance, the tripo'd`being asreadily detachable therefrom,` said device permitting the relativerotation ofthe parts, if desired, without affecting the secure holdingrelation between them.

Two embodiments of the invention are herein disclosed, and an inspectionof the claims appended will indicate that the said invention isnotlimited to these two forms of construction.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of thepreferred embodiment e invention, showing the same securing a camera-bedto a tripo' l-head Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through thestructure. Fig. 3 is a sectional view at right angles to Fig. 2. y Fig.4 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 4 4 efFig. 3. Fig. 5 is abottom plan view of the inner casing-section and associated parts withportions of the mechanism removed. Fig.v 6 is a detail sectional view onthe line 6 6 of Fig. 2. Fig. .7 is a similar view on the line' 7 7 ofFig. 3. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a slightly-modified form ofconstruction. Fig. 9 is a verticalsectional view therethroug. Fig. 10 isa sectional view at right angles to Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a horizontalsectional view on the line 11 11 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a detail planview of the inner casing-section and associated parts.'- F ig. 13 is adetail the locking members.

Similar reference-numerals designate corresponding parts in all thegures of the drawings.

perspective view of one of Referring to the embodiment illustrated inthe first seven figures, a casing is employed comprising separablesections, the inner section having a side wall 14 and an annular flange15, the outer section also having a side wall 1,6 and an annular flange17, that overlaps the flange 15. Thesesections are 'secured togetherI byholding devices 18, passed therethrough and constituting the means forsecuring the device to one of the members to be connected. Thus in thepresent embodi# ment the fasteners 18 are in the form of screws, whichengage in the under side of a tripod-head 19, said tripod-head having acentral opening 2O and an upper cushioned face 21.

Projecting from the upper side wall 14 of the casing is a sectionallocking-bolt, comprising a tubular sectional stem having at its upperenda sectional enlarged head. These sections form separable lockingmembers, and the head-sections carried thereby constitute, in effect,outstanding latch elements. sections of thestem are designated 22, whilethe head-sections are shown at 28. The stemsections are pivoted at theirinner ends within the casing, and for this purpose said inner ends areprovided with outstanding pintles 24, engaged between lugs 25,projecting inwardly from the casing-wall 14. The sectional bolt extendsthrough the opening 20 in the tripodhead, and the head 23 of said boltprojects above the upper side of the tripod-head, as clearly shown. Thehead-'sections 23 and stem-sections 22 are urged toward each other by aplate-spring 26 ,I located within the casing and bearing against theinner ends of the stem-sections and a ainst the pint'les. Thisplate-spring may be Tield in position by any suitable me'anshas, forinstance, by crimping the flange 15 at suitable intervals over themargins of the springZ-, as shown at 27. It not only constitutes meansfor holding the bolt-sections together, but also has a broad bearingengagement with the sections to maintain them in position and preventside play transverselyof the path of movement of the sections toward andfrom each other.

Means are provided for rating the head-sections 23, pose a shank 28 isrotatably mounted in the casing, its aXis of rotation being disposedlongitudinally of the sectional bolt. The

positively sepaand for this pur- The IOO

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inner portion of this shank is located longil tudinally within the boreof the sectional stem 22, and its inner end is in the form of a cam 29,which engages bearing-surfaces 30 within the stem. rlhese surfaces arealso preferably located within the head in order that the bearing may belocated as near the outer end of the separable bolt as possible.

. The shank 28 passes through the plate-spring the instrument.

' use,

. any danger of the connected parts becoming 26 and through the lowerwall 16 of the casing. It is provided on its projecting end with asuitable operating knob or head 31, which knob or head carries a pin 32,that operates in the slot 33 in the casing-wall 16 and serves to limitthe rotatable movement of the shank and cam portion.

The instrument to be connected to the head may be of any suitablecharacter. The bed of such instrument is shown at 34 in Fig. 1 and has asocket 35, the lower end of which is surrounded and partially closed bya plate or disk 36, having a central openi ino1 37. 2lt is believed thatthe operation of the device can now be made plain. Under normalconditions, or when the structure is not in the shank 28 is .turned soas to permit the spring-plate 26 to act upon the bolt-sections and holdthem in closed condition. The head is then small enough to pass throughthe opening 37 of the retaining-plate 36 of Consequently, to secure suchinstrument to the tripod it is only necessary to place it upon thetripod-head, allowing the head of the bolt to pass through the opening37. When so positioned, a half turn of the knob 31 rotates the cam 29and separates the head-sections 23 against the action of the spring.When so separated, said head-sections 23 are engaged over theretaining-plate 36. It will be evident that this is a quick-actiondevice and that it constitutes an eifective connection between the twoparts. Moreover, the bolt-sections are not only positively separated,but are positively held in separated relation, obviating uncoupled.Furthermore, the instrument can be rotated on the tripod or placedthereupon without v regard to its direction and without in any manneraffecting the security of the connecting means.

While the above-described embodiment of the invention is at presentbelieved to be the preferable form of construction, a slightmodiiication thereof is illustrated in Figs. 8 to 13, inclusive. Thislatter structure is perhaps particularly useful where the tripod-head iscomparatively thin-as, for instance, if made of metal-in which casedifficulty might be encountered in obtaining sufficient length of boltto secure the proper swinging movements of the sections. In thisembodiment of the invention the casing also comprises sections 38 and39, held together by screws 40,

which. serve to hold the device to the tripodhead. The bolt comprises atubular stem composed of sections 41, having head-sections 42 on theirouter ends. The sections of the bolt in this instance have reciprocatoryinstead of swinging movements, and for this purpose the inner ends ofthe stein-sections are carried by plates 43, slidably mounted within thecasing upon the upper wall thereof. The plates 43 are disposed betweenguideribs 44 and preferably have central slots 45 in their rear ends,which slots receive headed studs 46. i A

The actuating means for the bolt-sections consists of a shank 47,projecting from the lower casing-wall and having an. actuatinghead 48 atits lower end. The upper end ofy the shank constitutes a cam 49 and iselliptical in cross-section, the bore of the bolt-stem beingcorrespondingly shaped and receiving the same. A disk 5() is carried bythe shank 47 and is located within the casing, said disk being providedwith cam-slots 51, that receive pinsor studs 52, carried by theslideplates 43.

With this construction substantially the same action is secured as inthe first-described embodiment of the inventionthat is to say,

if the shank 47 is rotated in one direction thev bolt-sections will beseparated, so that they will engage and properly hold an instrument uponthe tripod. lf turned in an oppositedirection, the pins or studs52,riding in the cam-slots 541, will cause the movement. of theslide-plates 43 toward each other, so that the sectionsl of the boltwill be moved together. By this means, therefore, a positive outward anda positive inward movement is effected. Moreover, it will be apparentthat'the connecting-bolt may be made as short as desired without in anymanner affecting the distance the bolt-sections may be separated. Fromthe foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, and manyadvantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art without further description, and it will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, andminor details of construction may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. l A'Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-F 1. In a device of the characterset forth, the combination with a bolt having an enlarged head, saidbolt comprising -separate sections movable toward and from each other,of rotatable means operating between and including a rotatable portionthat engages the sections of the bolt for positively separating the sameand positively locking them in separated condition. 2. In a device ofthe character set forth,

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condition.

vdisposed within the bolt and having a ro- .for separating thecombination with a sectional bolt having an enlarged split head, of adevice disposed longitudinally within the bolt and including a rotatablecam operating between and engaging the sections thereof t0 positivelyseparate the same and maintain them in separated 3. In a device of thecharacter set forth, the combination with a sectional bolt having anenlarged split head, of a rotatable device tatable cam portion operatingbetween and engaging the sections of the same to positively separatethem and positively lock said sections in separated condition, saiddevice having its aXis of rotation disposed longitudinally of the bolt.l

4. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with asectional bolt comprising a sectional tubular stem, a sectional headcarried thereby, of a rotatable device located longitudinally Within thebore of the stem and engaging the sections for separat-v ing the sameupon its rotation, and means for rotating said device.

llng said members and 5. In a device of the character set forth, thecombination with a bolt comprising a tubular stem having a head at oneend, said stem being divided into two separate sections, of meanslocated longitudinally within the bore of the stem and having arotatable device engaging the sections thereof for separating saidsections of the stem and head, said means projecting from the end of thestem that is opposite to the head.

6. In a device of the character set forth, the combination withseparable members having latch elements, of an actuating device themembers and including a rotatable cam engaging the inner sides of thelatch elements, said device being disposed longitudinally between themembers and proj ecting beyond the same at one end.

In a device of the character set forth, the combination with separablemembers having latch elements at one end, of a rotatable actuatingdevice having a rotatable separating portion engaging the inner sides ofthe members for separating said members, said device being disposedlongitudinally between the members and projecting beyond the oppositeends thereof to the latch elements.

8. In a device of the character set forth, l the combination with asectional bolt comprising a sectional tubular stem and a sectional headcarried thereby, of a rotatable shank located longitudinally of the boltand having a cam portion disposed in the stem and operating against thesections thereof, said shank projecting beyond one end of the stem andhaving an actuating-head. i

9. In a device of the character set forth, thel combination with acasing, of a locking device movably Vmounted in the casing and anactuating device projecting from the opposite side ofthe casing.

10. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with acasing, lof a split locking-bolt comprising a tubular sectionalstem anda sectional head carried thereby, said stem projecting from one side ofthe casing and having its inner end movably mounted inthe saire, andmeans for separating the sections including a rotatable shank disposedlongitudinally within the bore of the stem and having a rotatableportion engaging the sections, and an actuating device projecting fromthe opposite side of the casing to the locking device.

11. In a device of the character set'forth, the combination withseparable locking inembers, of yielding means for urging the mem.- berstoward each other, and a rotatable cam engaging the members forpositively separatmaintaining them in separated condition.

12. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with pivotedand separable locking members, of a spring bearing against the membersto urge the saine toward each other, and a cam device rotatably mountedbetween and engaging the members for positively separating the same andmaintaining them in separated condition.

-13. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with acasing, of a sectional bolt projecting from one'side of the same andcomprising separable sections pivoted at their inner ends within thecasing and having a sectional head at their outer ends, of a springlocated within the casing and bearing against the inner ends of thesections to swing the outer ends toward each other, a cam device locatedbetween the sections of the bolt for swinging the same, said cani devicehaving its axis of rotation disposed longitudinally of the bolt, and anactuating device connected to the cam device and projecting from theopposite side of the casing to the bolt.

14. In a device of the character described, the combination with acasing, of a sectional bolt projecting-from one side of the saine, saidbolt comprising a tubular sectional stem, the sections of which arepivoted within the casing at their inner ends, the outer ends of saidsections having a sectional head, a platespring secured within thecasing and bearing against the inner ends ofthe stern-sections to swingthe outer ends toward each other, a

shank rotatably mounted in the casing and IOO IIO

15. In a device of the character set forth, the combination With acasing comprising separable sections7 of separable locking niembersprojecting from and having their inner ends movably mounted in onesection, and means mounted on the other section for effecting therelative movement ofthe members, said means including a rotatable camdetachably engaging said members.

16.. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with acasing comprising separable sections, of a bolt projecting from one sideof the casing and com rising sepal rable sections mounted on one ofp thesections l of the. casing, means for separating the bolt sections7mounted on the other casing-section and projecting fromA the oppositeside 0f said casing to the bolt, and means other than said separatingmeans for securing the casing to a support, said securing means passingthrough both of the casing-sections.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my oWn I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of tWo Witnesses.

NATHANIEL B. STONE.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. SIGGERs, S. GEORGE TATE.

